How about making football attractive to watch and we might get 25% more people going to all games?

No, have a mini St. Particks day Parade in Croke Park with fireworks. That will get the crowds out. 50K will come! Do the same the next day. Everybody loves the Club finals on St. Patricks day. Everybody wants to be in Croker to see the romance of the AI Club finals.

Do other sports have sideshows? Why can't we just sell the product? Is there no product to sell anymore?

Rugby has been very successful at marketing their games and turning it into a night out with a few drinks. They only have to focus on 4 teams and have the international dimension that makes it a bit easier. Darts boxing have attracted good crowds by marketing it as a night out.

In the recent past croke park was full for a league final on the back of a 1916 show. It was full for 2 Tyrone league games when properly marketed - one of them being the 125 year anniversary show which involved fireworks etc.

With all the negativity from the press around gaa - much of it unwarranted and other sports having a much better media presence anything that helps get people into the games should be welcomed. It would also open the games to new markets including tourists and why not encourage as many of them to attend our games as possible.

Some of you lads and in particular yourself are unbelievably negative about everything.

There were over 28,000 at the Dublin v Tyrone league game at Croke Park 2 years ago.

I thought 20,000 was still a fairly healthy attendance given the weather, the fact that it was being portrayed Tyrone had no chance and the fact it was st patricks weekend with a lot of other distractions. I think if you went back to the fixture 4 years ago that was played on st patricks weekend there was only 16/17000 at it.

But I do think the gaa are missing a huge trick on a game like this. They have proved in the past that when they market a match like this and turn it into an event they get huge crowds. Why they didn't try to tie it in with the st Patrick celebrations I can't work out. Have a big parade and lights show after the game and market it properly. You'd have got loads of tourists and people going for the event and it would have been a great pre st patricks day celebration.

Or why didnít they just play it in Parnell Park.

Feck all atmosphere in Parnell Park. They could have played it out of Dublin, say Thurles.

There were over 28,000 at the Dublin v Tyrone league game at Croke Park 2 years ago.

I thought 20,000 was still a fairly healthy attendance given the weather, the fact that it was being portrayed Tyrone had no chance and the fact it was st patricks weekend with a lot of other distractions. I think if you went back to the fixture 4 years ago that was played on st patricks weekend there was only 16/17000 at it.

But I do think the gaa are missing a huge trick on a game like this. They have proved in the past that when they market a match like this and turn it into an event they get huge crowds. Why they didn't try to tie it in with the st Patrick celebrations I can't work out. Have a big parade and lights show after the game and market it properly. You'd have got loads of tourists and people going for the event and it would have been a great pre st patricks day celebration.

Or why didnít they just play it in Parnell Park.

Feck all atmosphere in Parnell Park. They could have played it out of Dublin, say Thurles.

How about making football attractive to watch and we might get 25% more people going to all games?

how about cutting the costs£19 in to watch Armagh at the weekend and stood on a gravel banknot much comfort

Yes, exactly.

Wasnít it £14 last year? I thought that was too much. HQ are just taking the piss now.

Looking at the attendance figures this spring HQ will have no choice but to cut the cost of ticket prices for next year.

Not much chance of that

I agree. Even though they know attendances have fallen, theyíll still spout the same old shite: great value for money, we offer u-16s free, nothing beats being there, sure look at rugby/soccer prices we are much cheaper, blah blah. Itíll be just like listening to the DUP.

I believe championship prices have been increased and that will need a re-think also. There is a good chance they will go back to 2018 prices for the league next year IMO. I think we all know the increase came at a time when the Pairc ui chaoimh bill needs to be paid but allowing attendance figures to decrease for their best run competition is poor business sense.

Logged

Is the ref going to finally blow his whistle?... No, he's going to blow his nose

You can still buy tickets for £14, you just need to buy them in advance of the games. Presumably this is to cut down staff needed on the day and money being handled.

Are attendances definitely down? Not sure about the other divisions (I don't think division 3 and 4 prices changed anyway) but there has been plenty of healthy attendances in division 1 this year. Tralee sold out twice for games and another 12,000 at Tyrone Kerry in Killarney. Mayo had big numbers at their home games and there was a big crowd at Dublin Mayo. Even 20,000 on Saturday night for Tyrone Dublin wasn't bad.

You can still buy tickets for £14, you just need to buy them in advance of the games. Presumably this is to cut down staff needed on the day and money being handled.

Are attendances definitely down? Not sure about the other divisions (I don't think division 3 and 4 prices changed anyway) but there has been plenty of healthy attendances in division 1 this year. Tralee sold out twice for games and another 12,000 at Tyrone Kerry in Killarney. Mayo had big numbers at their home games and there was a big crowd at Dublin Mayo. Even 20,000 on Saturday night for Tyrone Dublin wasn't bad.

Seemed to be plenty of decent crowds at the hurling too.

Probably due to high sale of season tickets, as Kerry Mayo Dublin Tyrone etcwould be highly likely to go far in the championship. Other counties Iíd say attendances weíre down.

Rugby grounds are the perfect size for rugby crowds. They tend to look busy because finding 20,000 more-than-casually-interested patrons from one province isnít overly difficult. Yet thereís a bloody good reason why Thomond and Ravenhill werenít rebuilt as 35k venues. Even with an ďentire provinceĒ behind them.

As such Itís an odd thing to believe, that there are 50,000 people in Ireland who would happily give up a family day to travel to Croke Park, and sit in the freezing cold, watching teams they have little-to-no interest in.

Club finals day is the showcase of a parish-level competition. Only the biggest parishes in Ireland have more than a thousand genuinely interested patrons. You simply cannot expect 80-90% of your audience at a sporting event to be of the casually interested sort.

Throwing in a few fireworks and a novelty band wonít change that.

Now if we could do a public hanging or something like that on the undercard, you might have a chance.

óó-

Also, if Dublin v Tyrone in the NFL is of little interest to the average joe from Dublin or Tyrone, itís more than a touch expectant to think that tourists would revel in such an occasion.

How about making football attractive to watch and we might get 25% more people going to all games?

Football is evolving all the time. There has been plenty of good games in the league this year. And plenty of shocks with the Dubs beat three times. There has been lots of direct football played. Hopefully it continues come the championship.